TheToolPicker

Inspiration

Choosing an AI tool means opening fifteen browser tabs, comparing pricing pages that hide the real cost, and never being sure what to use instead. I wanted one place that answered what a tool does, what it honestly costs, and what to use if it does not fit.

What it does

TheToolPicker is a catalog of more than a thousand AI tools and software products with structured reviews, pricing breakdowns, screenshots and alternatives. Comparison pages put rivals side by side, and category hubs collect a ranked shortlist for each use case, from AI writing assistants to image generators to SEO software.

How I built it

It is built with Next.js and TypeScript on a self hosted Postgres stack with Drizzle. A scraping and enrichment pipeline keeps listings fresh so pricing changes, new features and shutdowns get picked up automatically, then reviewed before publishing.

Challenges I ran into

Keeping data accurate at scale is the real work. Tools change pricing and features constantly, so the pipeline has to detect changes without publishing noise, and the review step has to catch mistakes before they reach readers.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

The catalog is fully indexed and cross linked, which makes discovery through search engines and AI assistants a primary channel. Every listing gives a plain language verdict about who the tool is for, not just a feature dump.

What I learned

People do not want more options, they want a confident shortlist. The most valuable pages are the comparisons and the honest who is this for verdicts, not the raw directory.

What's next for TheToolPicker

Deeper side by side comparisons, user reviews, and better matching so you can describe your need and get a shortlist back.

Built With

• amazon-web-services
• drizzle
• next.js
• postgresql
• typescript